Seen the news today?

We've been busy and had a lot going on, but I haven't had time to share.

Here's the USA Today version:

-You've Got a New 'Do, But Is It You?

Savannah seen sporting a new, cropped hairdo and it's super cute!

-USC beats UAB

Many enjoy tailgating before the game. Some more than others...

-How to Get Out Those Stubborn Stains

While at a school event, not 1 but 2 children dropped their chili dogs- one of them rolled down my back as I was leaning over to help someone else.

-Tips on Hosting a Great Kids Birthday Party

Balloon animals, jump castle, swing set, snacks, entertainer and face painting were a hit at 4-year-old Harper's party.

-Trivia: Name the Artist and Song and You Could Win!

Caller: Is it Love Bytes by Def Leopard?

DJ: It is! You just won a $100 gift certificate to Tool House!

WTF Friday: buffet style

Here are your Friday lunch specials for today's WTF buffet:
1. As I was headed home today, I saw the Dumbass of the Day! How do I know it was him? He was passing IN the median doing about 65 mph!
2. I borrowed this from Ashley's Closet:
Who the hell came up with this and why?!?!?
3. This is a little place I pass on my way to work:

Oh, good. I used up my last Canadian yesterday.

4. and finally, I went to Tar-jay today and the only thing I bought were 2 cookies from the snack place. And I Just got paid! WTF?!?

gHarmony

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P.S. Y'all know I couldn't stay away that long! Especially when y'all are posting crap this funny! Hi-damn-larius!

Goodbye...

Well, my friends, it was inevitable. This blog thing has been fun, but it's time for me to go. I've enjoyed getting to "know" so many of you and your lives. As for me, no more stories of my Savannah or my pain-in-the-butt husband. No more "WTF Fridays" or pictures form our adventures. "Why" you ask? 1. Duh! The new fall TV line-up is starting and I luv me some "How I Met Your Mother," "Big Bang Theory","Heros," "Bones,"...
But don't worry. I'll be back eventually.

Once Upon a Time...

there was a cute college girl who was living it up in Charleston, going to parties and bars. She lived for Friday nights because that meant Disco Hell and meeting boys. She was a good little student, most of the time, and managed to pass all her classes.
One day, she went to her favorite bar, Acme, with her roomie and some friends. The friends brought along some Navy boys. Now, she had been warned about those military boys, so she didn't pay any of them too much attention, particularly because she had her eye on a cowboy she had seen the past few weeks.
One of the Navy boys thought he'd give it a shot and asked her to dance. They did, but then afterwards the college girl kept her eye out for the cowboy. The Navy boy told the roomie he didn't think the college girl liked him very much. The college girl told him she wasn't going to hang all over the first guy she met that night, which was OK, because the Navy boy's friend told him he could do better anyway.
So, eventually the college girl meets the cowboy, they visit for a while but he turns out to be a real jerk. By that time, it's late, but who still happens to be there? None other than the Navy boy so the college girl goes over to talk to him and they end up hitting it off.
Fast forwards a few months, blah, blah, blah, true love, etc. and they lived happily ever after. Yeah- something like that, anyway.
All that was almost 13 years ago. Believe it or not, today is our 11th anniversary. So here's to the college girl and the Navy boy - may there be many more years to come!

I sense a trend

I don't care what Earl says. Karma is a bitch.
I suppose the recent chain of events has me in a foul mood and there is quite possibly some PMS involved, just bein' honest, but I cannot believe what happened to me today:
Up until then, it had been a successful morning. I got my haircut and Savannah waited oh-so patiently. We went to Goodwill and scored 2 cute dresses for under $5. Then we went to Kmart where we purchased a gift and got a major deal on some kids' books. While putting my things in the Jeep, I noticed some gum on the ground. This is a major pet peeve of mine. So I thoughtfully put a little piece of paper on it so when someone stepped on it, they would step on the paper and not the nasty gum- tragedy averted!
Next, we met up with Steve to go look at some faucets for the house. All went great there. We checked out the goods, made some decisions and the price was right. We stopped for lunch and then we had one more stop on our way back home: the bank. We had been wanting to open another account to save money for things like furniture, decorations and plastic flamingos (kidding!). The lady was clueless and it took forever! Savannah crawled all over every inch of the floor and her Daddy. It was finally time to go so me and Savannah head for the door. As I'm putting her in her car seat, I could tell something horrible had happened. I look down to see that I had just stepped in nasty, chewed GUM! No freakin way! I take off my flip flop and the gum stretched out like cheese in a pizza commercial! UGH! See, I told you Karma was a bitch.

WTF?

(Click to enlarge. Trust me. It's worth it)

PSA: Back the F**k Off!

My mood today, in case you were wondering...

Pure Genious

Dear Patent Office,
I would like to apply for a patent to the new game I invented that I call "Copycat." You see, there have been several occasions while working with first and seconds graders that I need some sort of filler. The bus wasn't here yet, Mrs. Thompson's class wasn't back from the library yet, little Johnny wasn't finished vandalizing going potty yet... you get the idea. Because "idle time" is the devil's time!
There are lots of activities and games I could do, but most of them require various materials or lengthy instructions. I love a good game of Hangman, despite the implication of death, but you don't always have pen and paper handy. And Simon Says isn't complicated, but kids are cheaters and that drives me nuts.
So yesterday during story time we were waiting for the other classes to get there and that is when I invented "Copycat." I simply told them to do what I do and proceeded to touch my nose, cover my ears, stick out my tongue, etc. and the little suckers dears played right along with nary a peep! Genious!
Please issue my patent right away. Mrs. Kingsley has been playing the game and I think she owes me about $78.96. Thank you!
Shannon

Damn Southern nectar of the gods...

...and I don't mean Southern Comfort....
I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep and I was thinking, "Man, I love a Sierra Turkey sandwich from Panera with a good glass of iced tea." And then I realized that is why I am laying here at 11:53 pm and not asleep yet. Not the sandwich, the tea! I had way too much tea today at lunch. Oh- the cool, not too sweet yummy goodness with a fresh lemon wedge. Yum-diddly-um! Ever since I was pregnant with Savannah, I have laid off the caffeine. I'm not a T-totaler (pardon the pun), but I don't drink coffee, tea or Coke after lunch unless it's decaf or if it's the "high-test" variety, I usually don't have very much. But no,no. At the conference today I had a cup of coffee AND about 3 glasses of tea.
Speaking of tea, I discovered the other week that Firefly mojitos are super tasty. Firefly, if you didn't know, is a sweet tea flavored vodka that is made right in Charleston, SC. It's me and Cupcake's new drink of choice. I wonder if it has caffeine in it? or is it cancelled out by the vodka?
So anyway, now I can't sleep. at 12:08 am. dammit...

WTF?

They were having a sale at White House Black Market: pants were HALF OFF! ha!

This is from our fabulous girls trip back in January. The girls and I were shopping that day and we went into White House Black Market. The sales lady asks if she could put all of us in one big dressing room and she'd bring us stuff to try on. Well, next thing you know, it's the 4 of us and enough items to clothe the Gosslin family 3 times. I was mostly trying on tops, but then the girls wanted me to try on this dress. It was January and I had on boots, which were damp from the rain and jeans and I didn't feel like taking off so I figured I'd just drop my pants and that would give the same effect, right?

She's a funny girl!

Now that my big girl is 3, she has quite the personality. She is rough, wild and loves anything silly! Sing her a song, but change a few of the words. I'm a little teapot short and stout, here is my handle here is my pancake!She thinks that is HILARIOUS! Here are some recent funnies out of her mouth...
-(we were on our way home from IL and we knew she was really missing home) "I don't want to see Grandma Patti (Steve's mom), or Grandma Vicki (his step-mom) I just want my Grandma with the black hair (my mom)."
- out of nowhere she says in the van today: "Pigs have hineys."
- "Where did this book come from?" Me:"Um, you got it for your birthday last year, I think." Savannah: "It just came from the store, I think, because God made it that way." So she IS listening when I give that as an end all be all answer.
-About a month ago we were struggling with the potty training, so at the advice of Slacker Mama, I told her that when she turned 3, she couldn't wear diapers anymore. Not long after that, we were getting dressed one morning and I asked her if she wanted to wear a pull-up or big-girl panties. She thought for a minute, scrunched her nose and then said, "Am I free (three) yet?"
P.S. Thanks for all the kind words about Steve's Grandpa!

What do I want to be when I grow up?

It's kinda sad, but because of my job, I dread the start of school like any other lunchbox-toting 4th grader. The impending doom, the paperwork, the unknowns: "Which little rugrat is going to get kicked out of the program first?" Well, it's not really that bad...But the preparation and then the actual implementation of a school-based program that employs about 20 people and serves 85+ students is a lot of work. In general, I enjoy my job and the schedule is great, but I'm thinking that I want to do something else.

When baby #2 comes, not yet- don't get ahead of yourself- I think I'd like to take some time off. Whether that is 6 months or 6 years, I don't know yet. But after that, what could I do? I've never been one of those people who always knew they wanted to be a pharmacist, or lawyer or (fill in occupation). I just don't care about anything that much.

I'd basically be doing it because I liked it and for the pocket money. Did I tell you my husband is a tightwad? Anyway...At one point I thought about those "sell you stuff" parties, or at least that's what I call them. You know: Southern Living at Home, Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, etc. It would be fun going to people's house and having little parties and getting all that crap for free, but then again, I would have to actually SELL stuff and try to talk people into it and that's not really me. Plus, I am not a real self-starter.

I have considered getting certified as a fitness instructor. I love to dance and I really like Zumba, so that would be fun. The initial certification would be a little pricey, but I think I could definitely find part-time work around here. Therefore I'd never have an excuse not to work out! But then it PAINS me to try and watch completely uncoordinated people try to dance, so I might not be able to take all that. You know what I mean. You saw, "Can't Buy Me Love."

I also like photography. Not the kind where lovely families pose in their matching khakis on the beach. No, I'd rather take pictures of places or stuff, like gorgeous Charleston or a perfect blossom. Maybe I could get a few local stores to carry some of my work. I plan to use some of my pics in the new house. I've been meaning to do this, but just never have. You like all the pics I share, right?

I've always been pretty crafty and been kinda creative. In high school, I had my mom make a skirt out of out neckties. OK, yeah, she made the skirt but it was my idea. I am no stranger to decoupage, scrapbooking, sponge-painting, or Vacation Bible School crafts. I'd love to make one-of-a-kind stuff. But then I'd have to actually sell my precious creations, so I don't know if I could do that or not. I made a really pretty quilt square one time for a charity auction and I really hated to give it away. It was MINE, dammit! I took a pic of it, at least:Anyhoo- I'm not planning on making any life changing decisions right now. Just thought I would ramble a bit since my program starts in 6 days. And I hear little Carlos is a shit...

(3+80)-86=life

It's been an interesting weekend...

Savannah turned 3 and we had her little "dinner" party Friday. Not that we had a dinner party for a 3 year old, but we just had dinner at our house with some family and a few friends. It was good and Savannah got to be around her favorite people. Oh, and I made corn cupcakes. I know what you're thinking: "WTF?" But I was keeping this low-key so no bakery or Aunt Mary special cake this time. I made cupcakes and decorated them to look like ears of corn. Why? 1. Because that was Savannah's favorite thing to eat this summer: fresh corn on the cob. She'd eat 2 whole ears at one sitting. 2. I bought this super cute book that shows you how to decorate cupcakes and that's where the idea came from.

It was also my grandma's 80th birthday party. My dad and his sisters put together this whole party with a sit-down dinner, cake and ice cream for 100 friends and family. My grandma was just tickled! She's lived a very modest life and really done nothing but care for her family the past 60+ years so she deserves it.

But then Steve's grandpa passed away this weekend as well. He was 86 and ready to go, as he told my SIL recently. We knew when we saw him a few weeks ago he wasn't well, but he still looked pretty good. Then, they diagnosed him with leukemia this past week, gave him 3 days-2 months to live, and within a day, he was unresponsive and died that night. Yep, Grandpa was ready to go. Steve is spending most of this week in IL with his family.

I'm trying to think of something poignant to say, but I don't have anything except, we love our Savannah, I love my grandma and we love and will miss grandpa.

Take a look-see!

As requested, pictures from the earlier post:

They weren't making out, I swear!

Thhhwwwpp! I mean, "cheese!"

A and I totally owe L $20 each for the awesome lap dance.

New house! Yay!!

Labor Weekend

Our Labor Day weekend was more like Labor weekend. We were so busy and so exhausted by Monday that Savannah fell asleep at 6:30 and didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning! It was really all fun stuff, though.
Friday evening we went to a housewarming/pool party for some friends. It was laid back with lots of good food. C is a master griller- no kidding- I think he has won awards. We were there until the wee hours of the morning. Saturday I picked up around the house and that evening some of us went out downtown. We saw a concert in the park and shared pic-nic foods. Afterwards we hit a few bars. We had a great time dancing and whooping it up- some of us had a REALLY good time and managed to rip our pants...I SWEAR it wasn't me...honest! That was another late night. Sunday we slept in but still made it to church and lunch at mama's. Monday Steve and I spent some major dough on house stuff, but we got some great deals so that is good.
The house is coming along nicely. It's actually been moving kinda fast the past 2 weeks. I'll have to take a pic soon for you.
Hope everyone stays safe this weekend. I know Hanna is going to knock into somebody on the coast.